Focuses on the development process that culminated in a successful, two-semester, weekend college elementary French course. The article outlines the challenges encountered, the characteristics of the multimedia approach chosen to meet these challenges, and the "andragogical" approach used to adapt this methodology to learner needs. (27 references)…

The University of Michigan's information technology division has undertaken a data administration function and strategic planning process to ensure the accuracy, integrity, reliability, and accessibility of the institution's data resources. These support both current decision making and future attainment of institutional goals and objectives. (MSE)

The initial implementation of the Total Quality Management approach by 10 Boston-area (Massachusetts) institutions is summarized. The institutions include Babson College, Bentley College, Boston College, Boston University, Lesley College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, University of Massachusetts at Boston, Wentworth…

Suggests that college students could begin to repay their debt to society during their studies by participating in a nonformal system of community education and outreach. Describes how this strategy was implemented in India to provide political education for older members of society. (DMM)

Since a large, underfunded urban Colorado district initiated ISO 9000 reforms, administrators and staff have reviewed 14 central-office departments' processes to improve efficiency and enhance student outcomes. Jefferson County has saved $900,000 annually on purchasing processes, developed a quality curriculum-development process, and improved…

The Southern Oklahoma Technology Center, a vocational and technical school district, recently spearheaded an initiative to allow members to use laptops at home and during meetings to process board agenda items, receive video and multimedia presentations, and access the school's local-area network and the Internet. (MLH)

In 1995-96, the Edmonton (Alberta) Public Schools' enterprising superintendent allocated most of the district's central-services funds (about $20 million) to schools. Schools may purchase services and products from the district or outside vendors and commit any amount on building-level program expenditures. Central cost-recovery strategies are…

Surveys experiences of 101 primary school teachers of the newly introduced Literacy Hour--about the training and preparation they had received, the implementation of the Literacy Hour, its effectiveness and how children with special difficulties are differentially affected. Reports on other aspects of the Literacy Hour, such as ability…

The increasing emphasis on accountability in early care and education has created an opportunity for programs to revisit their child assessment practices. This article presents a model for using authentic assessment practices to document children's progress toward a set of program standards, specifically the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework, as…

This paper describes a school-based asthma education program for rural elementary school nurses. The program was designed to teach school nurses in 7 rural counties in Maryland how to implement and to reinforce asthma management behaviors in children with asthma and their caregivers. Rural nurses who participated in this program increased their…

This article provides a case study of the development of the Open Learning Systems Education Trust's "English in Action" program in South Africa from 1993 to the end of 2004. It describes the program's development from a model focused on enhancing learner involvement and learner gains to a model of distance education and open learning…

The UCLA Library has had a long-standing commitment to the attributes espoused by the teaching library model outlined in the seminal essay by Stoffle, Guskin and Boisse, "Teaching, Research, and Service: The Academic Library's Role" (1984). Information literacy was identified as a goal in the Library's strategic plan in late 2001. This…

This article details a strategic planning model and concurrent 3-year research study focusing on the benefits of preK-16 professional development school learning communities for the participating preK-16 educational leaders in a midwestern school-university partnership network. Results of the study, along with the strategic plan's success at…

Looping is a very simple concept, whereby a teacher moves with his or her students to the next grade level, rather than sending them another teacher at the end of the school year. Schools all over the country are finding that this simple idea is having a profound effect on their students. This handbook describes the many benefits of looping and…

The guidance and counseling profession is evolving from a collection of crisis-oriented services to a comprehensive program with a curriculum emphasis on student outcomes linked to social/personal, educational, and career success. Ways in which school counselors and administrators can move from an ancillary service mode into a comprehensive…